Steel Guitar Builder

i thought someone might like to see this, i machined the rollers out of brass first then drilling a hole for the rod then each roller , brass rod is 3/16 and each roller is .360 and .200 wide, im not sure what is standard for a steel but i think this will do nicely , i have a viberating rock tumbler that i use for polishing things i was thinking maybe this looks good enough not to polish , comments welcome, thanks for looking Russ

Russ,...that is nice work, i have some measurements for the nut rollers and the bridge if you want it .

nice work again, i wish i had a lathe that would save me alot of work


Pat C.

thanks Pat , Yes a lathe would be nice for your work ya know , idea s would come to you and you could make what you wanna make once you get the basic s down they d be no stopping you so to speak , if you have some measurements sure send them my way and thanks , oh if you ever decide to get a lathe let me know ill help you all i can i have a small mill on mine but this summer im getting a larger mill but this combo does fine for now . Russ

Russ, those rollers look like the real deal. You don't need to polish them. I put mine on straight from the lathe and they shine like a light.
Say, what did you do about gauging each roller to the string thickness?
There are several theories about this.

Bent , i did think about that but personally i think whats important here is having a groove that the string will ride in and making each groove the same depth so that all strings are level with other ( did i say that right) ha ha i might be all wet here correct me if im wrong i can always make another, i did lay a flat edge along the top and all rollers are level with each other so that will the bar will contact all strings ( did you get that lol) all rollers are the same size in height also and width. Russ

Russ ok, as long as you don't have any string buzz on the bar. How does it sound with the bar on the first fret...that seems to be the test. Think of all the different thicknesses strings laying on the rollersIn your minds eye you can see the zig zag line across those strings if the thick ones aren't laying a bit deeper in the groove.
I had new rollers made according to a formula that member burt (Richard Burton) had figured out: Use a 60 degree cutting tool that you plunge straight into the bar. Plunge it to a depth of 1.5 times the thickness of the string Ex: say the sting is a .022...plunge your cutter .033" deep

It worked somewhat good for me; it got rid of the string buzz and the strings are level. BUT some thick gauged strings seem to be laying too deep into the roller and actually bottom out. This is not good either since the string is only supposed to be touching on 2 points(opposite sides) and there should be air under the string. If not, it can cut down on sustain.

Master builder Martin Weenick (also a member here) gets around this problem by having one standard groove(like you) but actually mounting each roller on its own separate "plunger" or "piston" if you want. This plunger goes through the guitar body and is actually adjustable underneath. Pretty slick if you ask me!
I should get Martin to explain with pics etc. We could learn so much from this guy.

Id like to see that

Russ!...i need your email adress to send it to you